Nightingale
by nashi-hime
Summary: Tesla is sick, so who will take care of him? Rated for mild language.


Tesla gripped his head, leaning back on his pillow. He moaned in agony; his head honestly felt like it was going to explode from the pressure gaining inside of it. He breathed in deeply though his nose, attempting to un-stuff it, but was only rewarded by another wave of coughing. Rubbing his eyes, he turned over in bed, trying to get some sleep.

It was getting close to seven in the morning, the time when Nnoitra called (err, "yelled") for his morning tea. But Tesla hadn't slept all night, awake with his accursed cold. _Perhaps he'll let me sleep in…_ Tesla thought hopefully. He twisted himself up in his sheets, trying to position his head in a comfortable way so that his headache would temperately cease and his fluid-filled ears would drain. He was just inches away from falling asleep when something, or someone, broke the silence.

"TESLA! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU??" Nnoitra called. Tesla's eyes shot awake. Using all of his stamina and strength to fling the covers off of his fever-stricken body, Tesla swung his legs off of the bed. His head throbbed once he stood up, and he had to grab onto his dresser to steady himself, but he somehow managed to at least half wake up as he got himself dressed and headed out to make Nnoitra his tea.

Nnoitra's chambers were literally right next to Tesla's. In fact, Tesla's "room" was nothing more than an enlarged walk-in closet that once belonged to Nnoitra. After Tesla became Nnoitra's fracción, and Nnoitra got a new dresser to keep all of his clothes in, the closet became Tesla's.

Stumbling towards the door, Tesla gripped the tray under the tea forcefully. Judging by how Nnoitra was yelling for him (loudly, with a lot of anger behind that voice), he couldn't afford to spill even a drop. He reached up a shaky hand, knocking on the door. "Took you long enough!" came a voice from behind the door, Tesla's permission to come in.

Stumbling in, Tesla held up the tray to show Nnoitra, who happened to still be in bed. "It took you long enough. Slacker." Nnoitra hissed. Tesla didn't take it to heart; this was usually the response he got, no matter how fast he got the tea to Nnoitra. He dreamed of the day where he would become so powerful that Nnoitra was the one to bring him tea in bed. But that was nothing but a lost dream. It's not that Tesla didn't like working for Nnoitra, he did, but it would be nice to get a "thank you" after the tea, or if he was stretching it, a "good job" after his training session with the fifth Espada.

Nnoitra was sitting up in bed, his eye-patch already stretched across the left side of his face. All he had on were a pair of pajama pants; no shirt over his crossed arms.

As Tesla walked over to his impatient superior, the room started to spin. _No…I can rest later. Now I have…work…to…do…_ Tesla's thoughts faded as the room continued to sway.

In what seem to take only a minute, Tesla completely lost his footing to the swirling world around him, and collapsed face first into Nnoitra's carpet. Lucky for Tesla, the teacup didn't shatter; instead falling off of the tray and rolling across the floor, stopping just under Nnoitra's chair.

"Tesla?" Nnoitra questioned, straining his neck to get a look at his collapsed underling. He spotted Tesla on the ground, hyperventilating. "Uggh. Do you have to be so high maintenance?" he whined. Flinging the sheets off of his legs and rolling his eyes, Nnoitra got up and went over to Tesla. "Damn, what do you have, a fever or something? You're so warm I can hardly touch you, not to mention the sweat pouring down your face like the leaky faucet in the bathroom; which, might I add, you've neglected to fix yet. Okay then, up we go." Nnoitra slipped his arms under Tesla body, picking him up off the ground. Then, in one swift motion, he flung him onto the bed. Being out of breath from both the collapse and the impact of his body hitting Nnoitra's bed stomach-first caused Tesla to go into a coughing fit. "Watch my pillow, would ya? Whatever you've got, I don't want…" After retrieving a spare pillow from his closet, Nnoitra positioned Tesla so that he lay properly on the bed; his head slightly propped up and his legs and body under the sheets.

The pillow didn't help the way it was supposed to; Tesla only coughed more, bits of phlegm hitting Nnoitra's sheets. "Watch yourself! Like I said, I don't want what you have. I'll have to burn those sheets now …" Nnoitra said, leaving the room as he pulled on a shirt. Tesla sensed the presence of his master go and finally relaxed. Soon, he was able to breathe a bit easier, and drifted off to sleep.

After about ten minutes of napping, Tesla was interrupted by a rude shaking of his shoulder. "Nngh…s-stop that…" he said, turning away.

"Hey, be glad I'm letting you use my bed, okay? The second your fever splits, you're out of here." Nnoitra hissed. "Here, drink this. Szayel gave it to me, saying it would make you feel better," Nnoitra said, calming down as he handed Tesla his tea.

Holding the tea up to his face and breathing in deeply, Tesla relaxed. He took a few sips before placing it on Nnoitra's nightstand and curled up into the depths of the comforters. Nnoitra frowned. "Well, don't make yourself too comfy, I'm gonna be pouring that tea into you until you get better. Finish that cup before I come back, got it?" Nnoitra warned, halfway out the door. But Tesla was already fast asleep.


End file.
